@TheWickEffect yea I feel like you'll have much better luck and durability with the solid oak tama. Oak is porous but it burns fairly nice, so it should work well for you
@htimSxelA question: first,is cocolumber/coconut wood a good medium for kendama? i heard it's a soft wood. second, does any company have tried it yet?
hmm I haven't seen someone use coconut lumber for a kendama yet. I have a feeling it might be strange, since it is an extremely fibrous material from what I've read, but you won't know for sure until you try it! EDIT: I have seen some people use palm lumber, though I'm not sure if that is the same as coconut lumber. I have a piece of black palm sitting in the Terra shop, I should chop into one of these days!
Ash is SUPER DURABLE based off of not wearing down your spike, but chips easily around the base cup/bottom cup. Maple is an all around jammer. I LOVE ash for tamas because it ahs some grip. try Maple ken x Ash tama and you with feel both. I do not recomend maple tamas because it takes forever to break in.
If you had to rank the woods beech maple birch ash bamboo.. etc (commonly used woods, idk all of them) how would you rank them. I've been trying to know more about wood and this would help. Thanks!
It's a very subjective matter, but if you were to ask me: - Ash is currently at the top of my list due to the fact that you can easily "mould" to be great in stalls. - Maple is at a very close second, thanks to it's great pop (sound/clack). - Beech is my third favorite because it's the easiest, and perhaps the most affordable wood to make kendamas with. Also widely available. - Cherry takes fourth place for great pop as well. - Mahogany follows at fifth for the same reasons as maple and cherry. - Birch at sixth.
well i can't really pick which is which but i could only best in each wood that i prefer. maple-really durable & every dama in maple has really great weight. good for pretty much every trick possible. keyaki/elm- very light but durable enough. also spikes really last when you shape it a bit flat/ actual flat by sanding, not by continous play. bamboo- really clacky. bit cushion-ish when it comes to taps. birch- soft bit durable. has good weight & can easily break-in when played oftenly. beech- well straight af basic. soft,light,break-in literally that you eventually chip your base cup when it falls
Beech - Most used and affordable dama wood there is and maybe most durable. Maple - Widely used and probably second best for affordable and playable wood (clacks, and good for many tricks) Ash - Mostly for stalls, grain, and looks, but chips easily. Walnut - Very light for some reason, and lasts for awhile. Padauk - Kind of heavy and reddens as you play. Purpleheart - Very heavy, and somewhat durable Bamboo - I've heard it clacks very loud and plays well. Spectraply - Layers of colored wood that aren't as durable as all of these hardwoods. Hope this helped.
If you get a chance to have a look there are a fair number of comparisons, exerpts, and reference links in this thread: Kendama Comparisons